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воскресенье, 9 ноября 2014 г.

Map: The countries that recognize Palestine as a state

By Ishaan Tharoor

Last week, Sweden became the
135th member of the United Nations to officially recognize Palestine as an
independent state. The act sparked a tetchy diplomatic incident with Israel,
which WorldViews discussed here.

On the ground, a separate,
viable Palestinian state is far from a reality. Israel occupies the West Bank
and East Jerusalem, and it partially blockades the Gaza Strip, the territories
that would comprise it. The continued expansion of Israeli settlements into the
West Bank makes tackling the question of Palestinian sovereignty all the more
difficult. So, too, the apparent collapse of talks between the Israeli
government and its Palestinian interlocutors.

Sweden's Foreign Minister
Margot Wallstrom said her government's decision was aimed at supporting the
Palestinian Authority and its beleaguered President Mahmoud Abbas, particularly
given the present tensions in Jerusalem. "It is important to support those
who believe in negotiations and not violence," she told Al Jazeera.
"This will give hope to young Palestinians and Israelis that there is an
alternative to violence."

In the absence of progress in
negotiations with Israel, Abbas has taken the Palestinians' case to the United
Nations in recent years. The effort is mostly symbolic — a bid to deepen the
political isolation of the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sweden's move reflects a wider
European frustration with Netanyahu. This week, French socialist lawmakers said
they were preparing a bill calling on the government to recognize Palestine. In
mid-October, British lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a motion indicating
"that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the
state of Israel, as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state
solution."

The motion is nonbinding, but
serves as one more sign of Europe's growing impatience with the Mideast status
quo. The United States would want to see the two-state solution come into
fruition before conferring official recognition upon Palestine. But that is, at
present, a naive hope: A number of prominent ministers in Netanyahu's
government reject outright the possibility of the two-state solution ever being
realized.

Before Sweden's decision, tiny
Iceland was the only Western European country to recognize Palestine.

As you can see in the map, most
of the other nations that have not officially recognized Palestine are in the
E.U. or are U.S. partners who wouldn't want to ruffle Washington's feathers.
These include South Pacific island nations like Kiribati and Nauru.

Even then, it's quite likely
that the U.S. will find itself on this map within a steadily shrinking patch of
gray in the months and years to come.

Facts from History

CEDAW

UNSCR 1325

Strategy for engagement and joint actions on confidence building and P2P diplomacy that involve women. Final Report

YOUTH PEACE PLAN OF GEORGIA

This publication is produced within the framework of the project - ‘‘Support Democratic Participation of Young Women in Building Peace and Stability in Georgia’’ implemented in Georgia by International Network for Civil Development - INCD in partnership with Young Women Experts’ Network for Peace and Security (YWEPS) and with the financial support of the Embassy of Canada through Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).